GETPASS(3C)GETPASS(3C)NAME
getpass, getpassphrase - read a string of characters without echo
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
char *getpass(const char *prompt);
char *getpassphrase(const char *prompt);
XPG4, SUS, SUSv2
#include <unistd.h>
char *getpass(const char *prompt);
DESCRIPTION
The getpass() function opens the process's controlling terminal, writes
to that device the null-terminated string prompt, disables echoing,
reads a string of characters up to the next newline character or EOF,
restores the terminal state and closes the terminal.
The getpassphrase() function is identical to getpass(), except that it
reads and returns a string of up to 257 characters in length.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, getpass() returns a pointer to a null-ter‐
minated string of at most 9 bytes that were read from the terminal
device. If an error is encountered, the terminal state is restored and
a null pointer is returned.
ERRORS
The getpass() and getpassphrase() functions may fail if:
EINTR
The function was interrupted by a signal.
EIO
The process is a member of a background process attempting to
read from its controlling terminal, the process is ignoring
or blocking the SIGTTIN signal or the process group is
orphaned.
EMFILE
OPEN_MAX file descriptors are currently open in the calling
process.
ENFILE
The maximum allowable number of files is currently open in
the system.
ENXIO
The process does not have a controlling terminal.
USAGE
The return value points to static data whose content may be overwritten
by each call.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌────────────────────┬────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├────────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │ getpass() is Standard. │
├────────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│MT-Level │ Unsafe │
└────────────────────┴────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOattributes(5), standards(5)
Sep 2, 2003 GETPASS(3C)